


Mind Over Matter

by ver_ironica



Category: Voltron: Legendary Defender
Genre: Alternate Universe - Modern Setting, Fluff, It's just Alfor, M/M, Minor Character Death, Mutual Pining, Slow Build, just a dash of smut, klance relationship, mature rating for abuse mention
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2016-11-15
Updated: 2016-12-21
Packaged: 2018-08-31 04:47:50
Rating: Mature
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 4
Words: 18,200
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/8564644
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/ver_ironica/pseuds/ver_ironica
Summary: Lance has a new love for Korean food and Keith has a new love of ocean-colored eyes.The modern AU in which Keith works at a restaurant and writes in his spare time, and Lance is an engineering student. They meet through Shiro, who has his own problems as a caring graduate student trying to help his friend Allura.





	1. Afternoon Light

**Author's Note:**

> This is my first fic, so I just wanted to try a cute slice-of-life, let me know what you all think. I will have a schedule to upload new chapters if there is interest for that. Criticism appreciated!

_But why does he have to be so tall? And no one has the right to an ass like that._  


Keith wonders this as he bends down to grab his laptop from the coffee table, and Lance McClain stands beside it, talking with Shiro.

They were going through a rough patch in their relationship with Quantum Mechanics, with Shiro disagreeing with Lance’s idea about a two somewhere, and Lance not conceding to the fact that the grad student was probably correct. He was being so obnoxious it makes Keith want to roll his eyes. 

Except Keith’s eyes are pointedly fixated on the obnoxious guy’s ass currently moving back and forth with the argument taking place, a few inches from Keith’s face. 

Lance suddenly whirls around. “Keith, your brother is driving me nuts! How does one person understand Quantum so easily?” he demands.

Keith straightens quickly, if even a bit too quickly. He has a naturally stoic face, and hardly gives away any hint that there is a pink blush tinting his nose. “Well, I wouldn’t say easily, he did have a hard time with it.”

“Aha! So Shir—”

“Two years ago,” Keith clarifies. “He’s probably got the hang of it now with, you know, the whole research into the thing.”

Lance purses his lips, unsatisfied. _Why do idiots have to have cute lips_ , Keith idly wonders, for no particular reason.

Shiro places a hand on Lance’s shoulder. “Relax, buddy. It’ll be fine. You’ve got the right method now, and you can do it next time yourself.” 

Keith doesn’t like listening to his brother’s “TA voice.” It just makes him feel like he is stuck in a classroom, too. Obviously that doesn’t suit him very well. In fact, it grates on his nerves. Maybe it’s also the fact that Lance is still here. It’s hard to relax with an acquaintance in the room. Especially this one, some part of his mind adds.

Keith sits on the second-hand couch in the living room. His leg shakes absentmindedly. Lance glances at him, eyes drawn by the motion. They meet eyes for an instant, and to Keith it looks like Lance might be lifting his thin eyebrows, in a way of saying _I don’t like Shiro’s TA voice either._ A tiny smirk raises the corner of his mouth as his eyes return to Shiro.

Keith is really bad at interpreting things like body language and implications. The subtleties are hardest to follow. He isn’t really sure if he understood what just happened, or if he just saw things wrong.

“Okay, thanks again, Shiro, I really appreciate you meeting me to go over this,” Lance says, genuinely not sounding like an asshole for once. He raises a hand in Keith’s direction as he saunters to the front door. “See you, Keith!” 

Keith lifts his hand up in response, and is surprised to see a flash of an exasperated eye roll and a larger, mischievous smirk before the door shut. What was that supposed to mean? 

Shiro sits heavily down next to him, cutting off his train of thought. His brother sighs, rubbing at where his shoulder meets his prosthetic arm, probably getting sore. Keith fights off a grimace at his brother’s pain. 

“He’s interesting, huh?” Shiro asks after a pause. 

“Interesting wouldn’t be my first choice of word,” Keith mutters.

“Well, he wouldn’t be so bad if he didn’t have a habit of being overconfident. He’s a smart kid, but he just gets cocky and skips over the little stuff. But he’s very polite, actually. And he’s a lot more appreciative of my help than other undergrad students.” 

Keith can’t help the little shake of his head and eye roll that follows. Shiro laughs. 

“Do you have work tomorrow?” 

“Yeah,” Keith answers, happy with the change of subject. He is actually looking forward to it. Seoul Garden is a quiet restaurant most of the time, with enough regulars and college students passing through to keep it afloat. Keith’s manager, Seo-hyun, is a sweet woman in her early forties that likes to run a tight ship, but while also being compassionate and understanding. His other coworkers are also all related to Seo-hyun, and are pleasant and kind as well. It’s one of the few places Keith feels comfortable to be around large amounts of people. Plus, Aya is always a treat. 

“You should get some sleep then.” His brother stands and stretches, and begins walking toward his room. “You seem a bit on edge,” he adds thoughtfully. “Goodnight!” 

Just like Shiro to make Keith aware of how transparent he was, and then leave. He sputters for a second, before just settling on “Goodnight.” 

Keith isn’t on edge. Is he? He brushes his teeth for bed, and thinks about the two sets of looks Lance had given him. What did those mean? He washes his face and combs out his hair. He had smirked directly at Keith, like they were friends with inside jokes about his brother already. That was normal though, right, for people to try to act like friends before they’re actually friends?

Did that mean Lance wants to be friends with Keith? 

He doesn’t know, and decides not to think about anything. He lays in bed and uses his willpower to make himself tired. 

But his last thoughts as he drifts off are of that impish grin and nice ass.

\---

_Keith… oh, god, Keith, please, be gent—OH!_

Lance’s eyes open wide in the middle of the night. He is disoriented, still stuck in between the dream and reality. He is panting lightly, and there is a suspicious wet warmth around his crotch, growing colder. He slowly realizes what had happened.

 _Holy shit I have the hots for Shiro’s little brother._ He stumbles over to his bathroom to clean himself up a bit, tip-toeing past Hunk’s room where snores loud enough to be mistaken for a passing truck. The lights blind him and the cold water shocks him as he splashes his face. _I have the hots for Shiro’s brother,_ his unhelpful mind repeats.

The dream had been hot, for sure. They’d been together, alone, it was dark, and warm, and Keith’s pale skin… _I need help._ There is just no logical way they would be able to do anything like that, right? Lance is better off just getting over it.  
_Looks like I’m going to have to get by without help with quantum homework,_ he thinks sleepily as he climbs back into bed and tries to ignore the cold, wet spot. 

\---

Keith hadn’t slept well, but when does he ever?

He fights yawns as he clears away breakfast dishes and cleans the restaurant floor for the lunch rush. Aya sits in her pillow near the counter and watches unhelpfully, her amber eyes only open the barest of slits. He pets her soft calico head as he empties the dustpan into the nearby trashcan. 

He hears the jingle of the door opening, and stands up from behind the counter. “Welcome to Seoul Garden, can I help—” He trails off as he sees who opened the door. _Me_ , his mind finishes his sentence. His face falls as he realizes his quiet midday lull is no longer peaceful.

Lance McClain doesn’t seem to notice Keith’s awkwardness as he walks into the restaurant with two of his friends. The larger of his two companions lumbers to the counter, while Lance is still engaged in conversation with the shorter one. 

“Hey, hey, how are you doing?” the bigger guy asks conversationally. “Three, please, if you don’t mind.” He seems very friendly, with a warm smile. 

Keith leads them over to the booth along the front of the store, with pleasant early afternoon light filtering in through the large blinds. He lays down their menus, and gestures for them to sit. 

“I’ll be right back to take your drinks,” he says automatically. His eyes drift from the two friends’ until they land on Lance’s. 

“Oh!” he gasps once he met Keith’s eyes. “Keith! You, uh, work here?”

Keith raises an eyebrow and gestures vaguely to the apron he wore, and the menus placed in front of them. _Shiro said this kid was smart, but…_

“I mean, I guess that’s obvious,” Lance laughs, reaching a lanky arm up behind his neck. Keith smiles with him, somehow not too bothered by this awkward interaction.

Keith steps back toward the counter to grab the chopsticks. Aya is still on her spot nearby, and he gives her a small pat with his free hand, to comfort himself more than her.

He returns to the table, setting down silverware and pulling out his little notepad all in one graceful motion, pen ready. “What can I get you guys to drink?” 

“If you have any green tea, with, like, a million honey packets, I’ll take that please,” the bigger friend says first. 

“Water,” the small friend says.

“Could I get a cola?” Lance asks.

After each, Keith nods and jots it down on his notepad. He gets ready to say his usual “I’ll be right back with those,” but the bigger guy begins before he can get it out.

“We already know what we want, if we can go ahead and order now.” Keith nods, and notices Lance protesting silently, but the bigger friend continues. “Could I just get the Korean lunch box special? With extra rolls, if you don’t mind.”

Keith nods, and looks to the smaller friend. “I’ll take a cashew chicken, please.”

Now to Lance. “Oh geez,” he says, “I’ve never been here before. I wasn’t ready yet!” 

“It’s okay, I can come ba—” Keith begins.

“What would you recommend?” Lance says at the same time.

“Oh, uh,” Keith thinks for a moment. “I’m a big fan of our japchae, Seo-hyun makes it way better than I could dream, I can have her make it for you,” he offers.

Lance’s face lights up with a big grin. He sure does have a lot of different smiles. “That sounds awesome! I’ll try that. Thanks, dude!”

Keith can’t help but smile back. “Yeah, my pleasure. I’ll go put those orders in, alright?” he says, and at their nods, he retreats into the kitchen.

Keith breathes deeply and gets to work preparing their orders. Seo-hyun is already preparing the rice, her small form stirring the great rice cooker. “Seo-hyun, could you do me a favor, please, and prepare some of your special japchae?” He asks her. 

“Ah, you only ask me to make you that when you’re having a bad day,” she clucks in her accented voice. “What’s the matter?”

“No, not for me, for one of the customers,” he says.

“So you recommended a total stranger your favorite dish?” 

“No, he’s a student in one of my brother’s labs. He’s visited a couple of times.”

Seo-hyun smiles knowingly and sets out to make the dish. 

\---

Lance can’t stop glancing at the waiter with the mullet that he had dreamt about the night before. He wonders if his subconscious did Keith’s figure justice, as he’d never seen him in person without any clothes on. Lance notes the lines of his shoulders under that black t-shirt as he serves the other customers that had slowly trickled in with the lunch rush. He continues to stare as Keith approaches their table with all of their dishes lined up on his toned arms. 

“Can I get you guys anything else?” Keith asks, almost out of breath. His eyes land on Lance’s last, and upon meeting them, Lance can’t help but give a little smile.

“I’m craving something a little _a la carte._ ” Lance’s mouth begins moving before it had permission to speak. “Think you can help me out, Keith?” Even his eyebrows seem to be moving of their own accord, waggling his face into his signature flirty grin. 

Hunk groans, “Lance….” Pidge even looks up from their phone to give him a deadpanned look. 

Keith just looks confused and surprised. He looks at Lance’s friends— _is he trying to ask them what I meant by that?_ Lance wonders—and they look back at him sympathetically. Lance can’t help his expressions, and to his inner horror, feels himself wink dramatically at Keith.

“Maybe later, huh?” he says in the voice his body tells him is seductive. Keith just nods and leaves, posture stiff and awkward.

“Lance, buddy,” Hunk starts.

“I know, I know, he was practically falling for me, right?” Lance says sarcastically, covering his face with both his hands. “Ugh, I hit on a guy at work. I’m such a scumbag. Why did I do that?”

“You’re a horny mess, it’s not your fault,” Pidge says matter-of-factly. They hold up a finger. “Wait, just kidding, it is your fault.”

Lance would love to drop his head onto the table surface, but the Korean food is blocking the way. Glumly, he prods his japchae with his chopsticks. Hunk and Pidge dig in, with satisfactory noises emitting from the former, an indication of quality food. With a sigh, Lance also tries his dish.

Lance groans, putting his hands on his forehead again. “Oh my god, c’mon, how could I do this, I’m the worst.”

“What?” Hunk asks.

“This is the best food I’ve ever tasted! I can’t ever set foot in here again, so I’ll never be able to eat this delicious whatever-it’s-called ever again!” Lance is stuffing his face now, not exactly gracefully. 

Lance has been like this as long as he can remember. He’s constantly flirting with every cute member of any sex, with some success, but also with a lot of failure. But it made people laugh, and that meant they like having Lance around. At least, in high school it was that way. He had a huge crowd of friends, always giving him shit about his flirting skills. 

But at Garrison University, with his new best friends Hunk and Pidge, things feel different. People are more mature now, and this defense mechanism just isn’t working out anymore. It’s just making Lance lose out on opportunities to actually hang out with cute waiters. A lot of other students are more focused on their engineering classes than dating. 

But old habits are hard to break.

As a junior in college, he likes to think he’s been able to control his impulsiveness a bit. But when it comes to people he’s actually interested in, Lance can’t help but fall back into his old self. He continues to eat, struggling to pretend that the interaction had never happened.

Pidge begins talking about the latest video game gossip, with Hunk “ooh”¬ing and ”aah”-ing appropriately. It’s their way of trying to get Lance’s mind off of his failure of a love-life, and it’s appreciated but not working. Plus Pidge is getting way too technical, and it makes him want to zone out or take a nap.

They begin to wrap up their lunch, getting down to studying their respective homeworks. Pidge is tapping furiously on their laptop, working on some new code for one of their computer engineering classes. Hunk gets comfortable as he dives into his Mechanics of Materials study guide. Lance has his quantum to work on still, thanks to Shiro’s advice, he should be able to finish it in a few hours. But it’s hard to focus on that subject, so he switches to some Thermodynamics homework instead.

They remain like that for a few hours, until most of the restaurant has emptied for the lull before the dinner rush. Keith hadn’t checked on them since Lance’s embarrassment other than a hurried drop of the bill, and Lance couldn’t decide if he was grateful or upset. They begin to clear up their things, and head to the counter to pay.

\---

“Hello,” the bigger guy who Keith heard was called Hunk says as they approach the counter. Keith had seen them wrapping up, and made himself available at the register. He tells Hunk his total, and he pays.

Lance comes up next, sheepishly grinning at Keith. He doesn’t know how to react to Lance’s earlier interaction, which even Keith could see was pointedly flirting outrageously, and decides to err on the polite side. So he smiles back at Lance.

Keith puts in his order, and tells him his total. As Keith reaches for Lance’s outstretched hand for his debit card, his long fingers brush against Lance’s. For some reason this makes Lance drop the card and jerk back suddenly. 

“Whoops,” he sputters, “my bad.”

Keith shrugs it off as he swipes and returns the card and receipt. It almost seems like Lance’s brown skin is reddening around his cheeks for some reason. Oh well, if anyone understood issues with physical contact, it was Keith. 

“Also, I just, uh, wanted to let you know, I’m sorry for earlier, my mind sometimes stops working and—” Lance bursts out. “Yeah,” he finishes lamely.

Keith’s eyes widen, and he licks his lips to give himself time to answer. “I understand, it’s no big deal, you know?” he says, hoping that was the correct response. 

Lance breathes a sigh of relief, and his shoulders relax as he steps back. _That was kind of sweet, right?_ Keith’s mind says.

Without pause, the shorter one who Keith heard was called Pidge steps up to the counter. They set down exact change without Keith telling them their total, and step back, eyes on their phone under large, round glasses. Keith can’t help but smile a little at their quirkiness. 

“You guys have a great day, alright?” Keith says politely. The next words are out before he can stop himself. “And I’ll see you around sometime, Lance!” Keith waves stiffly to avoid slapping his face. _We’re not friends, don’t be weird, he’s never coming back._

But Lance turns around and smiles broadly back. “Yeah, see you around, Keith!”

The door chimes happily as they leave. Keith breathes for a moment, trying to ready himself to get back to work. 

“I expect we’ll see him back again soon, huh?” Seo-hyun suddenly appears by his elbow, whispering conspiratorially. 

Keith tries to avoid jumping ten feet in surprise. Why does she always have to sneak up on him like that?

“I don’t think so,” he says dismissively.

“Oh, he had my japchae, he won’t be able to stay away,” she assures him. “Plus I’ll be giving you extra hours for the time being, so you should be around for him as well.” She gives a breathy laugh and walks back into the kitchen.

Keith sputters for a second, but then sees someone from table four gesturing for him, and has to get back to work.

\---


	2. Energy Balancing

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Keith is an author of a story we all know and love, and it turns out Lance may become a regular visitor in his life.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Thanks for the support of last week's chapter, I think I'll stick to updating every Tuesday if I'm able. Thank you all!
> 
> edit: or maybe Wednesday, sorry! But it is longer, so I hope you all enjoy!

Seo-hyun hadn't been lying when she said she was going to give Keith more hours.

He thinks this as he throws his motorcycle helmet on the peg by his door, and then collapses into bed, shoes and apron and all. His shoulders were sore from holding trays of food and keeping his posture. He has a bad habit of slowly tensing up at every table while they figure out what to order. His legs are aching from speed-walking in and out of the kitchen and dining area. Even with Seo-hyun's niece, Caroline, helping, working from lunch until closing on a Friday is exhausting. 

_And it's all been for nothing,_ a small part of his mind chimes in unhelpfully. 

Lance McClain and friends haven't been back since that last Sunday afternoon. He also hasn't been over for physics help from Shiro, either. And Keith hasn't been able to stop his mind from going in circles over him. So many questions that can't be answered any time soon, if ever. 

The more time passes without any change, the more Keith is getting bogged down and irritable. Even Shiro noticed.

"Are things going okay at work?" he'd asked carefully. They had been sitting together in the living room, with Shiro's papers all over the coffee table and kitchen table, Keith just reading a book. His microwave dinner was getting cold on a tiny free corner of the coffee table, but Keith hadn't been motivated to eat. 

He'd had to put the book down, but kept a finger in his place. "It's alright, Seo-hyun just gave me a million more hours this week."

"Any reason why?" Shiro had asked, but almost like he already knew the answer.

"No," Keith had replied quickly, too quickly. Shiro had raised an eyebrow. "Fine, she has this weird idea that I liked a boy that came in last Sunday and wants me to be there as often as possible until he comes back."

Shiro had been quiet for a second. "Was it Lance?" 

Keith had stood up, unable to be in the same room with his genius brother that knows him too well. "I don't like him. How can I? I don't even _know him_!" 

Shiro had grimaced, and said "Keith, I'm sorry, I didn't mean to upset you."

 _Well, of course you're sorry now, you already got what you wanted. Now you can think you're the smartest guy in the universe for stressing out your adopted brother._ But Keith had just said, "It's whatever. I'm going to go write or something," and stormed into his room.

This had all happened yesterday night. So Keith had to try to not be in a crummy mood all day today, and it's hard when you have a table of college kids flinging their rice on makeshift catapults made of chopsticks and string from edamame. It's also hard when the regulars complain because the dinner they ordered wasn't made the same, not understanding that Seo-hyun only cooks on the weekends, not Fridays, and the rest of the week it's her son, Jason. It's hard for a multitude of reasons Keith doesn't want to continue brooding on.

Instead, he stands, and slowly, slowly, takes off his apron. He regulates his breathing, in and out, trying to relax himself. He stretches his arms up with the same slowness, loosening his shoulders and back before bending down to slip off his work shoes. After reaching upward again, he slowly lowers his arms with a large sigh. He wonders if he should take his motorcycle gloves off, but decides against it. 

Then he sits down at his desk, opens up his laptop, and begins to write. 

His story doesn't have a title yet, and is really just being outlined more than fleshed out. He still hasn't really developed his characters yet, as for him this is the hardest part. He has all his arcs planned out throughout what he hopes will be his first book. But developing his characters is what normally stumps him. 

_Not this time,_ he thinks, and sets to giving his characters more personality tonight. 

The story is about five Earth heroes that save the universe using alien technology and human spirit. They each pilot the universe's most powerful weapons, the Lions of Voltron. They combine to defeat evil as the giant warrior, Voltron. 

Suddenly, he has an idea for the characterization of the leader, the Black Paladin. Shiro's face pops into his mind, changing his awful TA Voice into a much cooler Leader Of The Hope For The Universe Voice. _This could work..._

It only made sense then for the Red Paladin to be similar to himself. He was impulsive, stoic, but also transparent. He was the closest of the Paladins to the leader as well, before they became heroes. Plus, red is his favorite color.

So that left the Blue Paladin, who is the next to meet the Black Paladin after his return to Earth. An image of Lance McClain appears in Keith's mind. 

_Oh, no, surely I can think of someone better suited to this,_ he thinks. But even as he's trying to think of someone else to fit the role, Lance's personality seems to be defining it. His range of expressions, his cockiness, his confidence, all seem to fit what Keith has slotted so far for the Blue Paladin. 

So it begins to fall into place. The Yellow Paladin seems to remind Keith of Lance's friend, the bigger guy called Hunk, with his friendly and warm disposition. The Green Paladin reminds him of Lance's quirky little friend called Pidge, who'd had those inquisitive glasses and messy hair. 

_Am I really doing this?_ Keith asks himself as he continues typing. Apparently, the answer is yes.

\---

Lance hurries along, doing his best to not be late to his Thermodynamics lecture. He'd had a test in this class last time, so this would hopefully be an easy intro lecture, relatively speaking. 

He is only about thirty seconds past the hour when he arrives, but Dr. Coran is already launched into a heated discussion about energy balancing. The professor tends to use every last second of his fifty-minute lecture time. 

Lance hurries down to his seat, next to Hunk. Hunk can't even spare him a glance, his big arm blurring as he writes to keep up with Coran's energy. 

"Now, can anybody tell me what I mean when I say, 'energy transfer?' What exactly is happening there? We now know it is a key factor in every single reaction but what _is_ it?" Coran asks the lecture hall in his strange accent, hand on one side of his bright orange mustache. "Eh? Anybody?"

Hunk raises his hand. "The conversion of one form of energy into another, or movement of energy from one place to another," he recites, the almost exact textbook definition. 

"Ah, I like that answer!" Dr. Coran says excitedly. "Now how about we give it a little bit more spark, eh?" He goes back to scribbling equations on the board. 

The hour continues in frantic pencils scratches and interjections of questions from Dr. Coran. Lance is glad for the fast pace, it leaves him too focused to get distracted or bored.

And yet there is a moment when Coran pauses, and out of nowhere the trance Lance is in snaps, and a thought enters his mind. _I should go see if Keith is at Seoul Garden after this._

At this, he drops his pencil, and it slips out of his desperate fingers over the front edge of his desk. The lecture hall is at a gradual slope, so the pencil rolls below desks several rows away, impossible to casually reach. He swears in Spanish under his breath. 

"Hunk, do you have an extra pencil? That was my only one," he hisses.

"Fine, dude, but can you contain yourself over there?" Hunk tries to say angrily, but he's fighting smiles at Lance's expense as he hands him a pen. 

"It's not my fault, my brain is betraying me, and my hand followed it!" Lance retorts. The guy next to them gives them a dirty look, and Lance levels his own face in return, but inwardly agrees that talking was rude and shuts up. 

_Okay, but seriously, after a long day like today, you could use some cute mullet-headed waiters with delicious food in your life, huh?_ his mind encourages him. He has to admit the idea sounds nice. _Maybe this time I can find an appropriate, kind, non-scumbag way of letting this boy know I think he's hot._

Oh no, he shouldn't have acknowledged that he thinks Keith is hot. Now he's going to sit and have dirty thoughts instead of pay attention to the lecture. He glances at the clock on the wall, five minutes until 2:50, when the class ends. He decides he can afford to fantasize for five minutes.

His hand moves automatically, tracing Coran's work in his own scrawl in his notebook, but his mind isn't with the class. Instead, he thinks of Keith lightly panting as he came by their table last Sunday, wondering how he would pant if they were alone, and dating, and in each other's arms. Lance imagines Keith's muscular build under that tight black v-neck and apron, and thinks about stripping it off of him.

But then something strange happens. Lance imagines what Keith looked like when Shiro had been explaining Quantum that day in their apartment. His bored, slightly annoyed look. He thinks about Keith's look of surprise after Lance had tried to show him that he was annoyed with Shiro sometimes, too. He wonders if Keith likes the same jokes he does, or the same movies. They already have Korean food in common. 

Maybe sometime they could go out and try that cool Cuban restaurant that just opened on Pine Street downtown, would Keith like that as well? Lance could really go for a taste of home after being away for so long, and being with someone who may understand would make it all even better...

"Dude, are you okay?" Hunk asks.

Lance's train of thought derails, and he realizes the class is leaving, and he has tears welling up in his eyes. "Um..." he begins, wiping furiously at his face. He clears his throat. "Yeah, yeah. I'm fine man, here's your pen," he stammers as he gathers up his things, throwing his notebook into his blue backpack. 

Dr. Coran approaches them from the aisle. "Hello boys, do you have any questions?" he asks brightly.

"Uh, no, thank you, sir," Hunk answers. Lance shakes his head as well, not wanting to speak. 

"Alright then! See you both on Wednesday!" With a wave of his gloved hand, he leaves the lecture hall. 

Lance breathes deeply, knowing Hunk won't ask him directly what's wrong. "I'm sorry, my mind just wandered on a tangent, and I got really homesick really fast. I didn't mean to."

"Whoa, buddy, Lance, that's not something you need to apologize for, alright? Let's just get on out of here and grab some late lunch, alright?" Hunk says, waving his big dark hands for emphasis. 

Lance sniffs and nods. "Can we please go to Seoul Garden?" Hunk opens his mouth to protest, but Lance raises a finger. "Now, before you say anything, I have a game plan. I'm going to say hello to Keith if he's there, and then I'll ask him if I can talk to him when he's on break, and make sure he understands that I don't want to force him into talking to me if he's uncomfortable." He pulls on his brown jacket as he speaks, to give himself a reason to not meet Hunk's gaze, worried he'll do something embarrassing, like blush. 

"That sure sounds a lot better than getting into that flirting mess like last time," Hunk says thoughtfully. "And you could use a distraction."

 _Ouch, thanks for the subtlety, Hunk._ "Exactly, buddy. Now, let's go get Pidge and get us some Korean food." 

\---

Keith gets on his motorcycle, parked outside of Seoul Garden, at 3:09 PM. Amber, Jason's daughter, had come in for the dinner shift today instead. The first time since that fateful Sunday, Keith didn't have to work the dinner rush. He couldn't wait to go home and write and relax. He lifts his helmet to put it on, but then he sees a yellow car pull in, with what looks like familiar passengers.

 _No way..._ he thinks as the three students pour out of the car. 

Faintly, he hears, "Okay, Pidge, on the way back I get shotgun though! Hunk's got a bunch of junk in the back and you're way smaller."

As they get closer, it's easier for Keith to hear. He's frozen, unsure of if he should say hi or quickly throw his helmet on and escape. 

Pidge says, "You just have to be quicker to call it." 

Hunk, offended, says, "And I told you, that is _not_ junk in my backseat! It's the crafts I'm working on for the freshman I'm tutoring! They work so hard, I wanted to make them something encouraging."

"Well, glitter and googly eyes hardly ever encourage me to--" Lance begins to retort, but cuts off as he looks at Keith.

 _Oh god, I need to leave, I waited too long, I just look weird, oh god, oh god,_ Keith's mind whirls. He starts pulling his helmet on.

"Wait!" Lance yells at him, long legs stretching to speed walk over to Keith. 

He does, stopping his arms, and lowering his helmet. "Oh, h-hey, Lance, how are you?" Keith stammers.

"I'm great. Just got out of Thermodynamics, so my mind is all over the place. Really excited to eat some good food," Lance answers conversationally. "How are you?"

"Just got off work at the place that makes some good food," he says, unable to help the little grin on his face. 

"Yeah, um," Lance hesitates for a second, and then blurts out, "Would you like to eat with us?" 

Keith badly wants to say yes. He could also use good food, with working late he'd been eating microwaved food after work all of last week. But if Seo-hyun heard, he'd never hear the end of it. And if he's really awkward and things go badly with Lance, his one sanctuary would be ruined by the one bad encounter. 

_Don't think of it like that,_ he thinks. _Now you have a chance to get to know them better, and it could help your story. And Lance invited you, that has to mean something._

So he says "Yeah, that would be nice actually." 

Lance's eyes light up, and Keith notices how blue they are, like the sea. _Ocean eyes..._

"You two coming, or what?" Pidge yells, interrupting Keith's line of thought. They and Hunk were ahead of Lance now, almost to the door. 

"Yeah, yeah, keep your glasses on, we're right here!" Lance answers. He looks back at Keith. "We can't wait forever."

Keith nods hurriedly. "R-right, my bad." He climbs off his bike, and follows Lance inside.

Amber greets them at the counter. "Welcome to Seoul Garden!" She narrows her pretty eyes at Keith. "Hey, I thought you left."

"I met up with some friends in the parking lot and they invited me to a late lunch," he says, unable to stop a little grin from splitting his face, again. 

She smiles knowingly. _God, does Seo-hyun tell her entire family about me or am I really not subtle?_ "Alright then, follow me," Amber says.

They file into a booth in the corner, and Amber drops off the menus and leaves politely. Keith tries to peak discretely, and sees Amber run back to the kitchen excitedly. Then Jason and Caroline both poke their heads out and meet eyes with Keith and wink and pantomime elbowing him, respectfully. He narrows his eyes in return, trying to fight the blush tinting his nose. 

"What's going on?" Lance asks.

Keith whirls around quickly, too quickly. "Nothing, just checking on them," he mutters. 

"Oh!" Lance bursts suddenly, making Keith jump. "I forgot to introduce you. Keith, these are Hunk and Pidge. Fam, this is Keith, Shiro's little brother." He gestures with his long arms in turn at each name. 

"Oh, hello," Keith says, not telling Lance that he had already overheard their names when they were here last time. 

With that, they fall into deciding on what to order. Keith helps Lance pick something out, knowing that Jason makes awesome kimbap. He realizes how close they are as he's pointing at the menu in Lance's hands, and tries to discretely lean away, nervous. 

Amber returns just then, takes their orders, and leaves cheerily. 

"So, Keith, what are you into?" Hunk asks. 

"Oh, well, mostly working here and riding my motorcycle in my free time. Also, uh, writing," he answers carefully. 

Pidge looks up at that. "Writing what?" 

"Don't laugh, but I'm actually into science fiction."

Lance laughs. "Why would we laugh? That's awesome!"

"You just laughed," Pidge says with their straight face. 

"No, I, wait--oh c'mon, Pidge, it wasn't like a mean laugh, it was a laugh-at-the-situation laugh!"

"Uh-huh," they manage to say with oozing sarcasm. 

Hunk starts laughing at Lance's sputtering, and Keith joins in. _It definitely feels good to laugh after such a stressful week,_ he thinks. He slides his eyes over Lance sitting next to him, trying to decide how he feels about everything. 

He clears his throat. "Hunk, what do you do?" 

"I'm a mechanical engineer at Garrison University, I actually work at the tutoring center to help students with math from pre-college Algebra all the way to Calc 3. They won't let me help with Diff-eq because another girl is still tutoring it, but hopefully next semester I can help with that too." 

Hunk smiles, and Keith can actually tell he's proud of all the help he lends to his fellow students. "That's really sweet," Keith says without thinking. _Hunk is really easy to talk to._

"What about you, Pidge?" he asks, brushing some hair out of his eyes. They are a bit harder to read, and he was nervous. 

"Computer engineering, met these two bozos on my floor freshman year and now they won't leave me alone," they say. 

"Aw, you know you love us," Lance croons, hands folded together over his chest in a heart shape. Pidge just looks at him with a straight face, and with a dramatically distressed face, Lance's hands come apart, mimicking the heart breaking.

"Anyway, I love computers and video games and occasionally space, which is what Lance and I have in common. Oh, and science fiction, which I suppose I have in common with you."

"Why only do you occasionally love space?" Keith wonders.

"Sometimes it freaks me the hell out. Love looking at pictures of black holes and stuff, but if I let myself think about how mindbogglingly huge it is, I freak the fuck out. And sweat a lot. In general," they say matter-of-factly. 

Keith laughs at this, and Pidge actually gives a little cat-curled smile in return. 

Their food arrives, and they begin digging in as Keith tries to ignore Amber's not-so-quiet giggles as she leaves. He looks to his right at Lance. 

"So I know you're in Quantum Mechanics with Shiro's lab, so are you a physics major?"

Lance shakes his head, mouth already full of his rice roll. "No way. But I am a physic minor, because I hate myself. I'm an aerospace engineer, and I'm gonna go to outer space. Or at least design something that will."

Again, he's using the voice that reminds Keith that this kid isn't always a confident asshole. He's not putting up a front, he's being open and honest. He could get used to this side of Lance. "Wow, that's really cool. That would make an awesome story," he says.

"Whoa! Would you write about me?" Lance exclaims. He grips Keith's arm excitedly. "That would be so cool!"

"Uh..." Keith hesitates. "I don't think I--uh, I--"

Lance's face falls a little, but he doesn't let go of Keith's arm. "Sorry, I didn't mean to get so excited. I bet writing about people you know is awkward."

He lets go and Keith realizes it's a little chilly in the restaurant; his arm is cold. "Yeah, awkward," he agrees, because it's easier to agree than telling a new friend that you've already written them, and their friends that you barely know, into the only story you think you're actually going to finish for once. A lot easier.

Pidge chimes in. "You should tone down your nerdiness over there, Lance, even _I'm_ weirded out by it."

They have a really nice time, with occasional big laughs, but mostly just continuing the pleasant conversations that come with getting to know new people. Hunk eats enough for two people, literally, after finishing off most of Pidge's dinner. 

"I eat like a bird," they explain. 

"Oh! So Pidge, like Pigeon, right?" Keith genuinely asks. But Hunk and Lance burst out laughing, and Pidge narrows their eyes, and he wonders what he said.

As they get ready to leave, Amber corners Keith, summoning him behind the counter while his friends wait patiently. 

"That sounded like it went really well, huh?" she asks him. Caroline pauses for a moment from waiting tables, and Jason comes out from inside the kitchen. 

"Yeah, guys, it actually really did. But now I know I can't eat here in peace," he jokes, knowing full well that with all their eavesdropping and laughing, they support and care about him. 

"Sorry, not sorry," Amber says. 

"You better get on out of here, Keith," Caroline says, tapping him on the shoulder. "He wants to ask you something in the parking lot, I bet."

"No way," her cousin argues. "He's way to awkward. He'll chicken out."

"Ten dollars?" Caroline wagers. 

Keith leaves, shaking his head. Lance meets eyes with him, and wags his eyebrows at Keith. He actually feels a smile tug at the corners of his mouth in response. 

"Ready to go, all?" Hunk asks. They all slide on coats and jackets and head out, waving good-byes to the family. 

On the way out to the parking lot, Lance and Keith fall in step behind Hunk and Pidge. "So, uh, thanks for inviting me, that was really nice," Keith says.

"Thanks for going. I had a bit of an interesting day today, it was really nice to just laugh a lot," Lance says. 

They make it to Hunk's big car, and Pidge yells out "Shotgun!" and climbs in. 

"Aw, man," Lance mutters. 

Before Keith can stop himself, he says, "If you want, you can ride with me. That's the ultimate shotgun." 

Lance stops completely, like someone pressed a switch on his mind. "Uh..." he sputters unintelligibly. 

Hunk pats him on the back. "See you at home, buddy." He gets into his Nissan and the engine roars on. He drives off, leaving Lance alone with Keith.

"I'll take that as a yes?" he asks. Lance nods vacantly. "You live right down the road from Shiro and me, right? Here, I've got a spare helmet inside, usually for giving Amber a ride to a friend's house that's too far to walk. Wait right here, I'll grab it really quick." Lance nods again.

Keith jogs back inside, and the dinner rush is starting to file in in waves. The family will be too busy to notice Keith slip back into the kitchen and grab the helmet. So he hopes.

But Caroline stops him. "Aha! He did ask you something." 

"No, actually, _I_ asked _him_ , so you owe Amber 10 dollars."

He leaves her sounds of humorous frustration and a hurried congratulations as he rushes out the door. 

Lance hadn't moved, but he's running a hand nervously through his hair. "I'm going to need you to hold on tight to my waist so you don't fall, okay?" Keith says carefully. Lance's coppery skin seems pale, and he's lost his confident stance. "Hey, we don't have to do this if you don't want to, I kind of put you on the spot, I'm sorry."

"No, no," Lance croaks, then clears his throat. "You're fine, my brother had a bike, and I used to ride with him. But I would always get really scared just before we went riding. It would always feel amazing, though, like flying, once we actually got going." He pauses. "Plus, you don't have to apologize for putting me on the spot when I did that to you last time I saw you."

 _Last time I...oh, the flirting._ "Oh, stop with that," Keith laughs. "I guess this is revenge then, and we'll call it even, okay?" 

He helps Lance put the helmet on, and then climbs onto the bike. Lance slides on behind him, and Keith can feel how stiff his legs are. He hesitantly places his arms around Keith's waist, and Keith grabs his hands and forces him to hold on tighter, for safety.

He holds up a thumb, asking, _You ready?_

Lance weakly returns the gesture with one of his hands around Keith.

_Alright, let's do this!_

"Let's go!" Keith whoops, and he hits the gas and they speed out of the parking lot.

\---

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I really really want to try to draw the scene where Keith is still on his motorcycle, noticing Lance's pretty eyes as Lance is excited that Keith said yes. 
> 
> If any of you feel like asking me any questions or tagging me, find me on tumblr justashance, or my main blog, ver-ironica!
> 
> As usual, criticism appreciated! How's my formatting?
> 
> Edit: somehow a whole chunk of text got deleted upon posting, I think I fixed everything but if something isn't lining up right, let me know!


	3. Ocean Eyes

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Lance hasn't had a crush like this in a long time and isn't sure how to react. Keith just wants these feelings to stop being so...like feelings.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Oh we're getting somewhere now, guys! I hope you like it. Background and moving forward together. Finally some Shallura as well!
> 
> Ocean Eyes by Billie Eilish (Astronomy Edit) inspired this chapter (or even the whole fic).
> 
> ***abuse mention, very briefly***

_Can we hang out sometime?_

_How about this weekend, at my house?_

_I'll see you then._

Lance can't stop replaying this afternoon's events. His Quantum homework is staring blankly back at him from his desk. He quietly hears Hunk's pop music leaking in from the hallway. But he can't stop thinking about Keith asking to see him again.

They'd raced through their small college town on Keith's motorcycle. It was open and exhilarating and vulnerable and powerful and frightening, all at once. 

Lance had gripped tightly onto his waist, and at stops, Keith would gently place a hand down on Lance's. It had encouraged Lance to lean his head against Keith's defined shoulders, and Keith hadn't stopped him, so he took it as a very good sign.

They'd stopped at Keith and Shiro's apartment. It was a block away from Lance's, which was why he'd studied with Shiro so easily in the first place. Keith had helped Lance get off the bike, his legs were stiff from being clenched so tight. He helped him take his helmet off, carefully brushing his long gloved hands along the side of Lance's face. 

And then he'd asked Lance if they could hang out. 

Lance had answered him, an astonished "yes." He couldn't even try to come up with something witty; he could barely come up with something coherent. Keith had prompted him again, specifying his apartment this weekend. This time Lance had gotten out a whole sentence: "Yeah, sure, that sounds really cool." 

But had he spoken too fast? Too slow? Too enthusiastically? _Oh God, I'm an idiot,_ he had thought. 

But Keith had just pulled up his phone, held it out to him, and said, "Put you number in." He had given Lance an adorable little smile, and Lance thought he was going to catch on fire. Then he said, "I'll see you then."

Lance had walked home then, and surprisingly no one was waiting to ambush him by the door. The lights were off in their little living room, and only the light above the sink was on in their kitchen. It was their way of saving money on electricity, so it didn't mean that no one was home, even if it felt like it.

He had made his way toward his room, and sloughed his backpack off onto the floor. He'd laid down on his bed, and stared at his ceiling for about a half an hour, trying to keep a straight face, but failing, and turning into a smiling idiot every time he thought about Keith's adorable grin. 

_Just end me. Right here. "Here lies Lance McClain, slain by Keith Kogane's hotness. Rip."_

He'd been able to get up after a while and get through his Thermodynamics homework. It was still relatively fresh in his mind from today's lecture, and so he was able to get through it easily. Not quickly, as these things still take forever even when you think you know what you're doing, but he got through it. 

And now he switched over to Quantum, and was at a standstill. 

_Dinner break,_ he decides, and makes his way to the kitchen.

He's not surprised to find Hunk at the kitchen table, with his craft supplies strewn on every available surface. He's gotten to the glitter stage now, and was sprinkling it on top of the messages written in glue that read things like "You're doing great, keep it up!" and "You can do it!" Each one was on top of different cut-outs of patterned scrapbook paper, and had a little breath mint taped to it. 

"Holy crow, you got a lot done," Lance says. "Why do they have little mints? Wouldn't they prefer candy or something?"

"They are encourage- _mints_! Get it? They're gonna love them!" Hunk beams. 

"Ah jeez, Hunk, that hurts," Lance groans at the pun, but he smiles because Hunk is a really thoughtful guy, and hopefully his freshman will actually like them.

He grabs the one good pot for pasta and gets water on the stove as he grabs one of his many Easy Mac boxes. He's surprised Hunk is being so quiet about this afternoon...until he turns around and sees Hunk's face grinning from ear to ear and eyebrows raised.

"I take back my earlier statement, that face you're making, right now? _That_ hurts," Lance says while pointing at him.

"Don't try to distract me. I've been patiently waiting all night to hear about it. How was your _motorcycle ride_ with _Keith_?" Hunk asks, practically bursting at the seams.

Lance tosses some salt in the water. "Oh, you know, the usual. He was smitten completely by my charm and good looks and he has totally fallen for me," Lance brags, his eyebrows waggling. He pauses. "He, uh, he also asked me to hang out at his apartment this weekend," he adds quietly.

"THANK GOODNESS! Oh, my gosh, Lance that's AWESOME!" Hunk bellows, and grabs Lance up in a crushing bear hug. 

He gives Hunk a weak pat on the back. "Jeez, buddy, don't sound so surprised," he wheezes. 

"I can't help it, I was just so worried, you really like this guy and I was so scared you were gonna pull a classic Lance move and accidentally be a total jerk or something and that Keith wouldn't be able to see the real you and that you would end up depressed and not do well on your finals and have to drop out of school and then go be a hermit because--"

"Hunk! Holy crow, dude, calm down," Lance chokes out as Hunk's hug gets increasingly tighter as he runs on. 

Hunk finally sets him down, and Lance feels himself inflate, able to breathe again. "But buddy, that's awesome! How are you feeling?"

"I'm okay, I actually, uh, just can't stop smiling," Lance admits, and to prove a point, his face refuses to keep from grinning. But he hears a sizzle and realizes his water is bubbling over, so he has an excuse to turn around to add in his pasta and stir it for a moment.

"Aw, that's so cute," Hunk gushes. 

"Yep, this mac 'n cheese really has me," Lance jokes, looking fondly at his boiling pasta. He starts straining the noodles, and the steam spills up in a big wave. "Oh, gotta love me a steamy romance. Especially in the _nood_." He wags his eyebrows at the terrible puns.

Hunk bursts out laughing. His pure giggles make Lance join in, even though he hates laughing at his own jokes. 

"You guys making bad puns again? God, you better hurry up and date Keith before he realizes how fucking weird you are. Even _I_ am starting to be weirded out by you." Pidge stumbles into the room, their eyes narrowing at the bright lights of the kitchen. They rub a tiny fist over an eye, sticking out their tongue at Lance.

"Did you sit in your room on your computer until it got dark around you again?" Hunk demands. 

"Maybe. But I blame day-light savings," they retort with a finger poised in the air. They make their way to their cabinet. "What I really need right now is like, a million peanut butter sandwiches."

"You'll just pick at them and then have a million sandwiches for Hunk to eat," Lance says.

"And?" Pidge answers, on their tip-toes to rummage through their cabinet. 

Lance just waves them off with an eye roll. His cheese is stirring in nicely, and he grabs himself a clean plate and fork. 

"So actually, how did things go with your boy?" Pidge asks.

Hunk and Lance stare blankly at them. Lance's mouth even pops open a little.

"What?" they ask, a stormy frown brewing on their little face.

"You just asked me about my love life. Like you actually _care about me!_ " Lance yells. "Oh Pidge, pal, buddy, you little green bean, you _do_ care!" And he scoops them up like a princess in his arms, much to their surprise and indignation.

"You--idiot!" they gasp, smacking at Lances shoulder with small fists. "I just--wanted to confirm--what I--already knew!" Each pause coincided with another harmless jab. "You were a total idiot--and you--managed to scare him off--and so now--we won't get any more Korean food!"

But all the while Lance was singing, "You care, you care!" with melodramatic expressions, rocking them back and forth. 

Pidge finally give in and relax their weight unhappily. Through their little pursed lips, they mutter, "At least tell me you jerk."

Lance sets them down on the floor upright, and they mimick brushing dirt off of their clothes. Lance beams. "He wants to hang out this weekend, at his apartment."

"His apartment?" Pidge stutters. "You mean his and _Shiro's_ apartment."

"I mean, yeah, why does that matter? That's how we met," Lance says.

"Yeah, are you gonna be able to Netflix and chill with that fatherly TA hanging around? What if he's actually a dad and just, like, _sits_ in the room with you two? I can already feel the secondhand awkwardness. It's making me cringe."

"We're not--we're not going to Netflix and chill!" Lance says quickly and maybe too loudly.

"Apparently not with Shiro joining in," they say casually. They crack open a can of pop from the fridge, and sip it knowingly. 

"This is making me extremely uncomfortable," Hunk chimes in. "I don't want to be imagining any of the scenarios that I am currently, in fact, imagining."

"Oh, I mean Shiro is super fucking hot too, so--" Lance starts, shrugging his shoulders dramatically.

Hunk and Pidge both burst out with shouts of horror. "Lance, no stop!" Hunk begs, while Pidge yells "Not what I meant! Not what I meant! Not it at all, you heathen!"

"I'm not sorry," Lance laughs. "Don't dish it out if you can't handle where my mind goes."

"Noted," Pidge grumbles. They snatch their soda angrily from the counter top and try to stomp away to their room on the other side of their little apartment, except their intended dramatic effect is muted by the fact that they were so tiny. "That's the last time I care about you, Lance."

"I'll just treasure this encounter all the more, my dear!" he responds in a goofy voice. Hunk laughs as their door slams.

"Dude, please don't be gross anymore, but I hope Friday goes well for you."

He makes jokes to brush it off, but Lance is actually really scared. He swallows. "Thanks, bud. I'm actually, like, you know..." he trails off.

"Nervous?" Hunk finishes. "I can tell, bro."

"Yeah. Um, Pidge didn't even make a peanut butter sandwich," Lance realizes. Hunk shrugs, and Lance appreciates that he lets him change the subject so easily. 

"I think they survive off of soda and the idea of food," Hunk suggests.

There was no point to being nervous, it would just make thing worse. So Lance decides to focus on school this week, and not to put too much thought into his upcoming date. 

He and Hunk hang out for a bit, Lance digging into his macaroni and cheese, and Hunk continuing to make his "encourage-mints."

Suddenly Pidge re-emerges from their room. "Hey guys, did you check your emails recently?"

Hunk and Lance both pull up their phones. "What the cheese!" Lance bursts.

"Chancellor Alfor is in the hospital?" Hunk gasps. "But isn't Alfor only like forty or so?"

Pidge shrugs sadly. "Yeah, but cancer is indiscriminate..."

"Isn't his daughter a student here?" Hunk asks.

"Yeah, Allura, the most beautiful senior here," Lance says immediately. "She was my orientation mentor when I was a freshman. I hope she's okay." Normally, he would say something along the lines of wanting to give her a shoulder to cry on, but given the severity of the situation and an image of Keith's face in his mind, he restrains himself. _Progress..._ he thinks idly. "Well, I don't know her well enough to reach out to her, so I hope she's got friends helping her," he adds on after a moment.

Pidge and Hunk murmur agreements, and Pidge ducks back into their room. Hunk is subdued while finishing up his gifts; even if he didn't know Alfor personally, he was such an empathetic guy that he is upset about it. 

Lance finishes off his Easy Mac and then mumbles a goodbye to Hunk, the mood low. He crawls into bed, and sighs dejectedly. He won't sleep for a while yet, but he doesn't feel up for much else. His mood sours even further as he re-read the email about the Chancellor, and sees that Iverson will be placed as Interim Chancellor until Alfor got better. Iverson was the awful Calc 3 professor that made it his job to make sure no one could pass with anything higher than a C. He was the worst.

He sighs again and tosses his phone onto the space next to his head. And then it buzzes. 

**Hey.** reads the single text from an unsaved number. But Lance knows that it's Keith, and a smile breaks out across his face. 

\---

Keith holds his phone in his hands, unsure of himself. _Maybe I should've waited longer..."_

But then his phone buzzes, and he sees his response. **Ay bb what's up?** with a little emoji with sunglasses. Somehow he reads it in Lance's cocky voice, and instead of it annoying him as would be expected, it makes him smile. 

**Nothing, just dealing with the usual writer's block.** Keith replies. And he was. He'd been sitting at his desk for over an hour, trying not write about Lance. Finally, he caved, and decided to just text him and see if it would help. 

**Can I help?** Lance asks.

**I think I just needed a distraction.**

**Well you might like to know that Pidge has a soul, and cares about me.**

Keith smiles. **What do you mean by that?**

**They asked me about how our ride went!**

**That seems normal.**

**Exactly! And they're never normal! So they totally care about me.**

**Aw. That's sweet.** Keith replies, with a little heart emoji. He hits "send," but has a miniature bout of anxiety. _Was the heart weird? Oh god..._

But Lance instantly responds. **Yeah. So I made sure they knew that it went well.**

 _Whew,_ he thinks. **You had fun?** he asks.

**Yep! It was no scenic ocean view like I'm used to back home, but it was still alright.**

Keith decides to respond to the little jibe. **Oh yeah? Sorry our little land-locked college town isn't good enough for you.**

**I begrudgingly accept your apology. Don't let it happen again.**

Keith actually feels himself grinning stupidly. **I don't HAVE to give you another ride...**

**Fine, it was actually fun, we should definitely let it happen again.**

To his utter astonishment, Keith is finding texting Lance to be _easy_.

He continues messaging Lance as he walks out of his room to grab a late dinner. It's only ten o'clock, and with his sleeping pattern that isn't too bad. He goes for the instant ramen, inwardly cringing at the fact that if Seo-hyun saw, she'd smack his wrists. He texts Lance this, earning a few laughing emojis in response.

He isn't sure where Shiro is, probably out studying with friends. Maybe they went to the bar, it is getting on in their semester, and stuff is sure to be stressful. Every now and then Shiro lets go of his responsible outward appearance and relaxes. Keith hopes Shiro can relax tonight, so he won't be as concerned with Keith's personal life as usual. He loves Shiro like they are real brothers, but sometimes he can be too involved with Keith's business. 

**That reminds me of my older brother Matteo** Lance texts back. **The golden child, the doctor of the family.**

There is a pause while Keith tries to decide how to respond, and Lance texts again.

**Sometimes I feel like my family doesn't think I'll be able to graduate.**

Keith stares at his phone, at the lack of emojis, and knows Lance is confessing something really personal to him. _I'm sure that's not true, but do I really know?_ He answers instead, **Well it doesn't matter what they think if you do, right?**

**Yeah, that's good advice.**

**I mean, people thought I would never end up in a good family, and right before I turned eighteen I was adopted, even though I would be out of the system in two months. So don't give up.** Keith hits "send," and puffs out a breath, wondering how the boy with the giant family would think of the boy with no real family. 

**That's really sweet of Mr. and Mrs. Shiro's parents. Are you glad they did?**

Was he? His immediate response is yes, of course. But a lot of times he wonders if it was just pity. He had gone to high school with Shiro for one year, while he was a freshman and Shiro a senior. But they'd both been on the robotics club together, and so Keith had confessed that he was in the foster care system, and told Shiro about his abusive foster mother. Shiro and also his family had stayed in touch with Keith after Shiro graduated, and surprised him on his seventeenth birthday with the news that his family was going to adopt him. It had taken nine and a half months to finish the paperwork, but Keith finally had a family. Takashi Sr., Shiro's father, had insisted that they'd always wanted another son, and had given up on the possibility until they met Keith. 

But part of Keith has always whispered in the back of his mind that it was only pity, and Shiro just felt responsible for him.

But Keith couldn't try to explain all this over text to an obnoxious boy he barely knows. So instead he replies, **Yes.**

 **I could really go for some of Seo-hyun's japchae right now.** Lance responds, and Keith wonders if he's changing the subject on purpose. 

**Well considering it's almost eleven at night, she definitely isn't cooking.**

The door to Keith's apartment banged open on its crappy hinges. He hears Shiro's voice, but in a weirdly soothing tone as he goes up the stairs. There is more than one set of footsteps. "Please, it's not even that big of a deal. I can definitely give up a futon for the night."

"Are you sure?" comes back a female reply with a strong accent. Keith is reminded of royalty. 

They're reaching the top of the stairs now, and Keith is struck. A beautiful woman Shiro's age walks into the living room. She has an aura of white hair, billowing out messily around her, with a losing battle between clips and a few strands around her dark face. She is tall, and wearing a light blue sweater with little black stains on the sleeves. Her bright eyes are red, from what looks like crying. A little bit of mascara is smeared on her cheeks. 

"Shiro, this means a lot to me." She looks at Keith, sitting at the little kitchen table with his bowl of ramen. "Ah, hello, you must be Keith." She glides over to him with grace, and holds out a brown hand. "I'm Allura."

 _Whoa,_ Keith thinks as he shakes her hand. _Shiro's mentioned his friend Allura before, but...she's gorgeous._

"I hope you don't mind, but Allura is going to stay over tonight," Shiro explains. Keith narrows his eyes in concern at him. His brother is very stiff, and for once seems unsure. Something must be very wrong.

"That's no problem," Keith says, waving it off casually. "Make yourself at home."

"Alright, then I'll excuse myself to get ready for bed," Allura says with a small, sad smile, and disappears into the bathroom after Shiro points her toward it.

Shiro moves to stand beside Keith. "Her father has been hospitalized for the past couple days," he whispers. "She's stayed by his side the whole time, but he begged her to leave and sleep on a real bed. She didn't want to be home alone without him, so I offered for her to stay here for the night. She..." He pauses, swallowing. "I care about her well-being. A lot. I--" He straightens as the bathroom door opens. 

"You guys are surprisingly clean for college boys," she says with approval. Her face is clean now, and her pastel pajamas look soft and comfy. 

"You can thank our mother for that," Shiro laughs, holding a hand behind his head. Keith nods in agreement, ignoring the "college" bit.

They small talk for a bit about the apartment and how cold it is outside, anything but the reason Allura was here. Shiro starts giving Allura looks, like he's melting on the inside. _I'm not sure what that means, but I can take a guess,_ Keith thinks. 

"I'm going to head to bed, Shiro. Let us know if you need anything, Allura, alright?" Keith says quickly. He doesn't want to get caught up in their moment. Plus his phone has buzzed three times already, and he doesn't want to have to tell Shiro who he was texting just yet.

They say their goodnights and Keith retreats to his room. He checks his phone.

10:46 PM: **That's unfortunate.**

11:10 PM: **Did you fall asleep?**

11:20 PM: **I am definitely jealous of your sleep schedule. I'll talk to you some other time!**

It was now 11:23 PM. Keith quickly types, **Hey! I'm still up, I just got distracted. Shiro brought his girl friend over. She's going through some really rough stuff with her dad. I didn't want to be rude.**

His phone vibrates a minute later. **Is she Allura?**

 **How did you know?** Keith asks.

**Cause we got an email today about her dad having cancer. He's Chancellor Alfor, and Allura is his daughter.**

**Oh. Well Shiro's hopefully taking good care of her. She didn't want to stay at home alone.**

**Hang on.** Lance's text reads.

Keith shrugs out of his jeans and t-shirt and slides into bed. He plays around on his phone for a moment, before Lance texts him back.

**I just let Pidge and Hunk know, because we'd been talking about Allura earlier. Hunk is now more at ease. He's a really empathetic guy.**

**Oh, good, I'm glad you let them know then. So um, sorry if this sounds weird, but are you good at reading people?** Keith asks.

**Totally to brag, but like a book, actually. One of my many talents.**

**I am really bad at it.** Keith confesses.

**Haha really?**

**No laughing, it just means you're useful now. What does it mean if Shiro looked at Allura like he was melting inside? Does he like her or does he just pity her?**

**Melting inside? What kind of expression is that?**

**I don't know, like his eyes get all soft and his whole body sags when he looked at her.** Jeez, Keith is even bad at just _describing_ body language. 

**Oh, well, it sounds like he's totally into her. I mean, you saw her, right? She's drop-dead gorgeous.**

Keith gulps. Something hot pricks at his stomach. **Okay. You know her well, then?**

**No, no, she was my orientation mentor three years ago. I mean, yeah I flirted outrageously with her, but that's about as far as that went. Shiro is probably blasting love eyes at her, that's all I meant.**

Keith breathes, and his cheeks turn pink with embarrassment. _What in the world was that? Was that... jealousy? Over a person I hardly know? Why are feelings so confusing?_

 **Oh, gotcha. Yeah, he's talked about her before, but never implying he liked her. At least, not that I could tell.**

They keep talking about random things, like Pidge's ability to be thrown around due to their small size, before suddenly it's almost one AM. Keith can hardly keep his eyes open. 

He sleepily types out one more typo-filled text, **Hey, I'm gone ago to bed, but it was rely nice taking to you. I can't wait to see you Friday.**

He quietly lets sleep take him, imagining Lance's goofy grins. 

\---

_Keith, more, please, I'm going to--ah!_

Lance opens his eyes to the darkness, _deja vu_ hitting him. He feels his underwear sticking to him, and groans as he gets out of bed. Hunk's snores rock the hallway as he shuffles to the bathroom to clean up. 

He wonders if he and Keith could ever end up in these situations he dreams about. Keith, naked, pale skin glistening as he moved on top of him, giving in to the pleasure... 

Lance splashes cold water on his face. _Just take things slow. Don't let your horniness make you screw things up. You like Keith for a lot of other reasons, you idiot._

He sighs as he collapses back into bed, pulling out his phone to reread Keith's tired goodnight message. He smiles. _But if you could end up kissing those lips a little on Friday..._ his mind whispers to him. He admits to himself that he likes that idea a lot. Too much.

 _A little more fantasizing can't hurt,_ he decides. 

\---

It's Wednesday, and the week is crawling by.

Seo-hyun was smug as a cat when she showed up to Keith's shift on Tuesday. Apparently Amber, Caroline, and Jason had all told their in their own words about his lunch with Lance. So she pet Aya and smiled at Keith while he explained how it went himself. She only responded by telling him she was probably going to be giving him less hours for a bit.

The good news is, Keith has a lot of new ideas to write about, most of them concerning Lance. But he also knows more about Pidge and Hunk from texting Lance. His story is developing around the characters, and he is getting excited. 

He is typing about how the Paladins finally meeting their princess when he thinks about Allura. Originally in his story, the princess is very diplomatic, but not very strong. She has trouble taking care of herself. But thinking about Allura still being strong going through something like her father's illness, Keith realizes that he wants his princess to be like her. She needs to be able to take care of herself, and be a hero in her own right. 

So he gets writing. 

\---

It's Thursday, and Lance has been floating through the week.

He hasn't really been paying attention in class, seeing as Keith never had work earlier than ten AM. So he's been texting him during his eight and nine AM classes. 

He did pay attention during his Wednesday Thermodynamics lecture, however. Professor Coran was a wreck. His usually bright disposition was muted dull, and his clothes were rumpled. A classmate told Lance that he was close to Chancellor Alfor. So Lance paid attention, to try to make Coran feel better, however he could. 

And now he's done with classes for today and finishing up his Thermodynamics homework for the week. He's never been able to move through it so quickly before, meaning it was probably wrong, but he felt confident. 

He can hear Hunk and Pidge giggling at him when he takes a bit longer than normal to respond to questions, but then he gets another text from Keith and forgets to be upset about it.

\---

Friday is here.

Keith is cleaning, tidying up the sparse living room. He even washed his favorite fluffy winter blanket, and tries to arrange it prettily on the futon. He wasn't sure what to wear, so he just has on comfortable dark jeans and his favorite black v-neck. He's made sure he remembered deodorant for the fourth time. He hooked up his laptop to the TV, then worried that Lance wouldn't want to watch anything, and unplugged it.

 _I'm definitely overthinking this,_ he thinks. He looks at his most recent text. 

**See you at six bb!** With a little sunglasses emoji, from Lance. 

The time reads only 5:26. Keith plops down on the futon in the middle of the living room and tries to relax. 

Shiro comes out from his room. "Hey, Keith." His eyes are tired from the semester, and maybe staying awake late with Allura every night this week. He had started hanging out with her at her house, so it wouldn't feel so empty without her father home. Tonight will be the first night Alfor will be allowed home, but Shiro is still worried for her. He has taken off his prosthetic.

"Catching up on homework?" Keith asks, instead of any of the other, more serious questions on his mind. 

Shiro nods tiredly. "Are you all ready for Lance to come over? Do you need me to go to the store for any snacks or anything?" he hollowly asks. 

"I can't find anything else to clean, so I guess I'm ready. And no, absolutely not. In fact, if you could hole yourself up in your room and do homework, I would be eternally grateful." Keith says this as though Shiro would annoy him, but the truth is he's just worried that if he embarrasses himself in front of Shiro that he won't hear the end of his concern for a week. But maybe he was just being dramatic.

Shiro nods with understanding. "Let me know if you need me. But I know you won't. See you in a while." 

As his brother leaves, Keith wonders if he might have offended him. Shiro hasn't asked him for help this whole week, even though his friend Allura was going through really tough stuff and Shiro was probably bearing a lot of burden. Keith pulls his hair back into a little ponytail, trying to not feel guilty, and decides he'll take Shiro out to Seoul Garden this weekend.

He just needs to make it through tonight first.

 _Knock, knock, knock._ Keith breathes, and walks down the stairs to the door. 

He opens it to see Lance wearing... _Oh god._ Lance is wearing a cropped t-shirt and sweatpants that hang loosely on his long legs until they cinch at his ankles. He's got his characteristic brown jacket on, and while it seems mismatched, Keith feels like he looks comfortable and relaxed. His short hair is in its usual messy state, and his expression is shy. _Shy,_ Keith's mind repeats. 

"Hey, Keith," he says with a small smile.

"Hey, come in," Keith says, gesturing upward to their living room at the top of the stairs. 

"Oh, so gracious, I'm charmed," Lance jokes, with a little curtsy, and walks up the stairs. 

_And we're back to staring at his fantastic ass,_ Keith thinks as he realizes the great view that comes from going up stairs behind Lance. Those sweatpants definitely did him a lot of favors. 

As if he can read his mind, Lance says, "I hope you're being a gentlemen down there, these pants make me look super fine but I trust you're not staring."

They reach the top of the stares, and Keith desperately tries to hide the tiny blush on his nose, but to his embarrassment, it spreads instead, warming his cheeks and ears. He _never_ blushes like this. _What is wrong with me?_ he wonders disparagingly.

But Lance just bubbles up with laughter. "You're so red, oh my God!" he exclaims, and grabs Keith up in a friendly hug, still laughing. 

At this, Keith now feels his neck getting hot, and knows he has to look like a flustered tomato. "Oh, please, it's just my second-hand embarrassment from that awful hair of yours. Do you even own a comb?" he retaliates. 

Lance lets go of him, and says with much indignation, "Ex _cuse_ me, Mr. Mullet? My hair?" 

Keith can't keep his straight face, a smile tugs at the corners of his mouth. "Yeah, even me, Mr. Mullet, thinks your hair looks awful."

In response, Lance dramatically grasps at his heart. "I come all the way over here, to _your_ house, and you insult me, on this, the day of our first date!" 

If any of his blushing had subsided with their joking, it now came back in full force at the mention of the word "date." Keith clears his throat. "So I've got movies, Netflix, video games--"

"Video games! Do you have Super Smash Bros.?" he exclaims suddenly, grasping at the hand Keith had been using to count their options. Lance's eyes are sparkling with excitement, and Keith is reminded again of the deep ocean. 

Keith smiles back. "Uh, yeah, for Wii U? We can play that." Keith narrows his eyes at Lance. "But only if you're prepared to lose," he challenges.

"Oh, you're definitely on. I am a BEAST at Smash," Lance declares. "Best in my family. And there's a lot of us."

Keith moves to start hooking up the Wii U to the TV. Lance stands over him, issuing challenges, and it takes a massive amount of willpower to not stare at the front of Lance's sweatpants that are conveniently near eye-level. 

They sit together on the futon, GameCube controllers in their hands. Keith chooses Link to start with, and in response Lance picks Toon Link. The match starts and Lance immediately begins yelling, " _Ah! Hyuh! Hah!_ " in a really bad impersonation of the Links. It makes Keith laugh, but that's not enough to distract him, and he beats Lance without even trying. 

"Not to insult your family, but if you're the best, do they even play?" Keith asks innocently. 

"Alright, I'll let you have that one. I just don't normally play Toon Link," Lance grumbles. "But now you'll for sure lose to my REAL MAIN." And he selects Captain Falcon, and changes the skin until it is the famous Pink Nipple Captain Falcon. "You're mine, now," Lance says.

Keith chooses Peach, and Lance guffaws. But when they get going and Keith counters all of Lance's Falcon Punches with Peach's mushroom, he makes a range of noises that differ from laughing at himself and angry at losing so easily. 

"Okay, so maybe I was exaggerating my skills a little," Lance admits finally, several games and losses later. 

"That's okay, I'm sure you're good with other people. I just happen to be way better," Keith says smugly. 

Lance sniffles and pantomimes wiping away tears. "I'm trying to confess my downfalls to you here, and you're just gonna brush them off? I'm hurt."

Before his courage leaves him, Keith grabs the hand Lance had had on his face, and holds it. He looks into Lance's blue eyes for a moment, then whispers, "Get good."

Lance sputters, ripping his hand away from Keith's. "And here I thought you cared! Ugh."

Keith can't help but laugh. "Here, I'll make it up to you. Want a glass of water? It's getting hot in here."

As he moves to the kitchen, Lance calls from the futon, "Oh, you like water? Then you must already like sixty percent of me." 

Keith doesn't even need to be looking to know that Lance has on his sly, flirting grin and is pointing finger guns at him. So he returns with the two glasses of water in his hands, and as Lance reaches out to grab his cup, Keith smiles devilishly. 

"Oh, you want this? You must want sixty percent of me, too."

Lance freezes, his mouth hung open in an astonished grin. 

"What? Do people usually not answer your cheesy pick-up lines?" Keith asks. "I'm not surprised." He hands him his glass, letting their fingers brush just slightly.

Lance finds his tongue. "You are terrible." 

They each sip at their waters for a second. Keith sets his down, and looks at Lance. Lance sets down his glass, and then looks back. Keith can feel something in the air, something like static electricity, but not as distinct. He usually has trouble interpreting his intuition like this. But this feeling is different. It makes him feel brave.

So he grabs the back of Lance's head, and gently pulls him in for a kiss. 

Keith's eyes close, and his senses go into overdrive, and he's aware of Lance's tense shoulders gradually relaxing. It's an awkward kiss, with teeth bumping and noses touching, but it improves by the second as they each get a feel for the other's mouth. Lance slowly sets a hand on Keith's waist, and Keith is reminded of their bike ride. _This is just as exhilarating,_ he thinks. He hears the Smash music in the background, but can hardly think past the thrumming of his heart when he feels Lance's breathing speed up. His increases in response, and their kiss becomes more passionate. Keith grabs at Lance's shoulders, and pulls him on top of him as they slowly lay back on the futon. Lance gives the tiniest moan in response, and it's enough to drive Keith wild. 

But he has to check first. He pulls away, and looks into Lance's hungry eyes. "Is this okay?" he pants. 

"Yes," Lance sighs, moving in for another kiss. "I've actually thought about this for a while now," he confesses in between kisses. 

"Really?" Keith asks, surprised. But he doesn't stop kissing. He _can't_ stop kissing. _His lips really are soft..._ he admires. He pulls Lance down closer to him, and groans quietly. Keith reaches a hand down Lance's back, and gently grabs his ass. "I've actually been thinking about this--" he emphasizes with a little squeeze, "--for a while now, too." Keith isn't sure if he's ever been this confident before.

Lance pulls back to give a breathy laugh. "Really?" he asks. 

Keith nods, and pulls him back into another deep kiss, this time letting his tongue slowly taste Lance's soft lips. At this, Lance shudders.

"You have ocean eyes," Keith murmurs. 

"Keith?" Lance asks. 

"I really like how your eyes remind me of an ocean," Keith clarifies, looking into them by way of explanation. 

Lance sits up. He takes a deep breath. "That's really, really sweet, Keith. I think I really like you," Lance says.

"I think I like you, too," Keith says.

"In the past, I've been very, uh, enthusiastic about the physical aspects of relationships," Lance starts. "And it never really lead to a meaningful relationship. So, um, Keith, if we're going to be a thing, can we--are you okay with--um." He pauses, a little shaky. "Can we take things slow?" 

"Of course," Keith says. To demonstrate, he gives Lance a small, chaste kiss on the lips. "But we can't play Smash anymore then."

Lance pulls away, confused. "Why not?"

"Because I'll totally fuck you in Smash," Keith says.

"You--!" Lance gasps. He narrows his eyes at Keith. "You sure do act innocent for a guy capable of saying stuff like that."

Keith bats his eyes. "No idea what you mean."

"We're on, right now, let's go," Lance says, grabbing his controller. Keith laughs and grabs his, and gets poised to play. 

Then Lance shuffles next to him, looping his arm through Keith's. "Is this okay?" he asks quietly as they chose their characters. Keith nods.

They continue playing like that for a few hours, taking occasional kissing breaks and one ramen noodle break. 

_These feelings are okay,_ Keith decides, and gives Lance another small smile.

\---

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I am forever going to be calling Pidge green bean, and no one can stop me.
> 
> Hope you liked it, sorry for the long wait! Finals are awful.


	4. Dusk Air

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Keith and Shiro need to be there for each other as they both go through hardships in their love lives.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Get ready for some angst!

Seo-hyun smiles sweetly at Keith and Shiro as they order. She'd already asked Keith a bunch of loaded questions that seemed innocent on the outside, but somehow had Keith babbling about how his date last night with Lance was amazing, and they were going out to see Moana together after Thanksgiving. 

Shiro had already heard a lot from Keith this morning, and was tiredly nodding along. He was still a little rough around the edges, and his arm seemed to weigh him down even more than usual. His phone was always within reach, and the ringer on quietly, so he wouldn't miss any emergency calls from Allura. 

Seo-hyun leaves, and Keith watches her pat Aya's head conspiratorially, as if confiding in the cat about Keith's romantic life. Keith returns his attention back to Shiro.

"So, I hope you don't mind me asking, but, um," Keith stutters, nervous. "This whole thing between you and Allura seems very...sudden. Is there a reason she's turned to you for all of this?"

Shiro sighs, and rubs at his chin. "Well, she told me that all her other friends are walking on eggshells around her, and constantly telling her 'I'm sorry'. She hates that. She asks the what they are sorry for, and then they stumble and can't answer, and she just feels like it's all fake."

"Oh." Keith bites his lip. "So what did you say?"

"I'd found her after our senior seminar. We'd stayed friends after we'd had classes together a few semesters ago. She was looking, well, terrible. Eyes red, hair in a snarled bun, and coffee in her hands. So I waved to her, and asked her how her semester was going. She snapped 'How do you think?' and so I answered honestly, 'Terrible.' And she seemed surprised, and gave a little laugh." 

Shiro pauses as Seo-hyun drops off the food. She doesn't say anything, just pats Shiro's prosthetic arm with a grandmotherly smile. Keith knows she probably put extra love and spices into Shiro's japchae. 

He takes a bite, and Keith sees his shoulders relax. Keith's food is pretty good, too, but he doesn't want to interrupt Shiro by commenting on it. He says instead, "What happened next?"

"She said, 'Yeah, terrible,' and then asked if I wanted to grab some food with her. I said sure, and we went and she told me that her dad has late-stage cancer, and it's terminal, and well, that she was not handling it very well. So I said, 'Well, if you would like, I was going to go see a movie with some other physics majors, would you like to come along with us and take your mind off of it?' And she did. And I offered her our futon for the night. And you know the rest," Shiro finishes. 

Keith absorbs this carefully, and ignores his phone buzzing in his pocket. As much as he would like to answer Lance, Shiro needs him right now. "Do you like her?"

"I _can't,_ " Shiro bursts. "I can't like her. I only just started talking to her closely again, and she's been an emotional wreck the entire time. And I'm crazy enough to think I like her? It has to be just pity, and I won't act on it. I won't." 

"It's okay to like her," Keith says, confused. 

"No, Keith, you don't understand," Shiro rages. "I'd be taking advantage of her. Plus I'm doing grad work, and she's graduating next semester and probably going to go off somewhere crazy for grad school. So there wouldn't be a point, and it would be wrong. She just needs me to be a friend right now, okay?" 

Keith swallows. He doesn't like when Shiro got upset like this. He knows it shouldn't, but it makes his stomach clench with the nervousness of his past experiences. He's known many homes where this kind of anger didn't lead to happy outcomes. _Calm down, this is different. He's just stressing out a lot._ "Shiro, she's really pretty, and sounds really smart and funny. I think you two would be a cute couple."

Shiro sighs, and seems to deflate. Keith could see that all of his emotions were still there, but contained, swirling around his head as negative thoughts. "Just, not right now, okay? Especially nothing will happen because of me."

"Okay," Keith says, and hopes that's a good enough answer. He allows himself a quick glance at his phone, and answers Lance's text, **Everything's okay, but Shiro is really worried about Allura. He really cares about her.**

They eat in silence for a moment. "I do appreciate it, Keith," Shiro says, "but I just can't in good conscious try and make a move on Allura. I wish she wasn't going through this. I want to help her. But a relationship, especially a new one, it just has weird ups and downs and it would just be an added stress."

Ups and downs? Keith considers this, and thinks about his budding relationship with Lance. 

As if reading his mind, Shiro says, "You and Lance should understand. I know you were stressed out those weeks before you got together. And you're probably worried about him, right?"

"What do you mean?" Keith asks.

"You want to make sure he's alright, and take care of him. It's a hard stress on people, because it's already hard enough to take care of yourself. But then in a relationship, you want to take care of another person as well. And for Allura, she's already been trying to take care of her father, day and night. She doesn't need to be worried about me too. Okay?" 

Keith nods, and feels a little hollow. He does want to take care of Lance and his goofy grins. He feels bad for all the homework Lance goes through, and wishes he could help and do it instead, even though he doesn't even understand most of it. 

Shiro probably wishes he could take Allura's burden instead. Keith looks into Shiro's dark eyes, at the purple smudges underneath them, and his tired face, and knows he's right. 

"I was thinking," Keith says lightly, "about stopping by the book store after this. I could use a new copy of _The Name of the Wind,_ and maybe something new as well. What do you think?" 

Shiro gives him a little smile. "That sounds good."

\---

"It doesn't bother you at all?" Pidge says again.

"Of course not," Lance answers.

"I mean, you guys will be going down very different career paths," Hunk adds. "It's just something to keep in mind."

"The only thing I have on my mind is Keith's hot a--" Lance starts.

"Okay! Okay! Stop stop stop!" Hunk and Pidge cry out, waving their arms. 

They were sitting in their kitchen, having a "family dinner", as had been the tradition on Sunday nights for a while now. Usually they consisted of pizza or ramen, but tonight Lance had cooked up some Cuban sandwiches, with pulled chicken and spices and sauces and toppings all piled high on fluffy bread. A definite improvement. Lance only cooks like this when he's in a really good mood, or a really bad one. This time it was the former. 

Pidge is a very practical person, and to call them blunt would be an understatement. They fired a barrage of questions at Lance to make sure he was going into his relationship with Keith using his mind and heart, and not just his hormones. This included talking about the fact that Keith wasn't going into a scientific career field, and was also not in college. 

"I appreciate the concern my dudes, but I was raised by a family that viewed college as a stepping stone for certain paths, but not a necessity," Lance says. And it was true. Sure, they were all ecstatic that Matteo had become a doctor, and are proud of Lance for pursuing an engineering degree, but he knows they wouldn't have disowned him if he hadn't gone to school. Lance pushes himself to better his and his family's future, and is afraid to fail them. 

Pidge shrugs their little shoulders. "Okay, Lance, but as a person who has to share an apartment with you, I would not want to deal with you moping around because you didn't plan ahead. Okay?" 

Hunk nods in agreement, his mouth full of sandwich.

Lance laughs. "Thanks guys, but don't worry about it. Keith's had a taste of me now, he isn't going anywhere."

Pidge adjusts their glasses. "Please stop being gross."

Lance hops up. "Nope! In fact, I'm gonna be extra gross! I'm gonna go surprise my lovely Keith in his apartment with flowers and chocolate, and ask him to be my boyfriend!" 

"Bleh," Pidge says, sticking their tongue out, as Lance races over to his room. 

Lance throws off his sweatpants, and puts on his light washed jeans, and a navy blue sweater. He puts on his heavy coat this time, because the weather isn't in as good of a mood as he is. He grabs the bouquet of flowers from his dresser, and the box of spiced Mexican chocolates he may have stolen from already. He runs out the door, hearing Hunk yelling, "Good luck!" as he closes it behind him. 

It's snowing. Little wet flakes are falling, probably liable to turn to water any second. But the sun was set, and if it continued to get colder, maybe they would stick. 

Lance walked the now familiar couple of blocks up to Keith's apartment. He hadn't texted at all today, so he hoped Keith was home. 

He rounds the corner, to see the parking lot of Keith's apartment building full of cars. People were ready to hunker down for the night. He looks around for Keith's motorcycle, when he hears its engine. He looks to the street to see the red bike pull into the lot, and park by their door. Lance smiles big and bright, and tries to move at a steady pace over to him instead of bursting into a run. The candy and flowers were behind his back. 

Keith turns his bike off, and then steps down. He removes his helmet, and shakes out his long hair. He turns to look at Lance, and Lance decides there's nothing else he'd rather be looking at, and no one else he'd rather be asking out. 

"Keith!" he yells. His pace quickens to close the last few feet between them, and he pulls him into a warm embrace. 

"Lance," Keith gasps. "H-hi."

"What's the matter, pretty boy, surprised to so me?" Lance teases. 

Keith just nods, and smiles widely. "Yeah, are we seeing Moana ahead of time? That's something to be excited about."

Lance laughs. "Shush and listen, okay?" Keith nods, and Lance clears his throat. "I couldn't wait any longer. I had to see you and ask you as soon as I could." He holds out the chocolate and flowers to Keith. "Will you be my boyfriend?"

Keith smiles, and opens his mouth. And something flickers in his eyes, and he pauses. "Um, Lance, I--"

"You're speechless, huh?" Lance says. "That's okay!"

"No, listen, I just, um, I can't," Keith stumbles. 

Lance feels his grin slipping, and his gut clenches. Maybe he shouldn't have eaten before this. _Is he telling me no? Oh god, he is. He doesn't like me. Oh_ dios... He swallows, not ready for the bad news.

"No, please, don't be upset," Keith rushes. "I want to keep talking, and go see our movie this weekend, but I can't say yes yet. I had a long talk about stuff with Shiro and--"

"Shiro doesn't want us to be together?" Lance cries out. 

"No, Lance, that's not it--" Keith says.

"No, no, I see what's going on. I'm a bad student, Shiro probably thinks I'm a lost cause and that I'm not good enough for you. Well, that's fine, it doesn't matter anyway," Lance says, his lower lip trembling embarrassingly. The flowers are shaking in his hands.

"Lance," Keith says. He looks stricken. "Lance, stop, breathe for a second. I can't say yes because relationships are stressful, and I don't want to put that pressure on you. Just, not yet, please." 

Tears are warm and then cold on Lance's face. The cold dusk air isn't giving him enough oxygen. "I, I want this though, Keith. I like you."

"Lance, I like you too, please don't be upset. I want to go slow." Keith tugs on his arm. "Come inside. It's freezing out here."

Lance shakes his head. "I don't want Shiro to see me like this," he mumbles. He pulls back, but Kieth tightens his grip on his arm.

"Lance, I care about you. I want to take care of you. This feeling, I know you feel it too. _This feeling_ is why I want to wait. What if something bad happens? You have your classes to focus on right now, I can't come in the way of that." There are tears on Keith's face now. "Please, I just want to be close right now."

 _He doesn't want to be together,_ Lance's mind kept repeating in his head. "I don't understand," he sniffs. "I thought you wanted to be together. Why..." 

Keith makes a sound of frustration. "I do, but I want to do the right thing." 

"I've gotta go," Lance gasps. He breaks free of Keith's grip, dropping the flowers and chocolates onto the cold ground. 

He turns and runs back toward his apartment. The air grows colder, and feels as if knives are cutting at his lungs as clouds of steam leave his lips. He doesn't turn around, and doesn't look when he hears Keith's bike engine rev to life, and leave the lot. He doesn't know where Keith is going, and doesn't care. He just makes his way home, and ignores Pidge and Hunk and collapses onto his bed. 

\---

Keith can't see. He's crying, and his helmet is fogging up. The roads are full of sludge from the wet snow, and it's unsafe. But what else was he supposed to do?

Seoul Garden's "open" sign was still lit, and they wouldn't close until seven PM tonight. It was probably close to six. 

Keith parks, and stumbles into the back. The heat of the kitchen hits him immediately, and he feels as though he's melting after being frozen on his bike. Caroline gives him a surprised wave. Seo-hyun is cooking at the big stove top, and he knows he shouldn't have burst in, but he needed her comforting presence. She notices him, and her face softens. 

"Keith, I thought you left already," she says. She turns away from her dish, and motions for Caroline to finish it for her. 

He can't help the tears spilling out from his eyes. "I did, but when I got home, Lance was at my apartment, waiting for me. He tried asking if I would be his boyfriend, but I tried to do the right thing, and I tried to tell him I wanted to wait, and oh, Seo-hyun, I think I really hurt him," Keith cries out. 

Seo-hyun pulls him down into a hug. She's barely five feet tall, and Keith has to bend at the waist. "Keith," she says. She pulls back, and purses her this lips at him. "You know I think of you as family now. And I want you to know I'm glad you came to me. I understand you meant well in telling Lance that, but--" 

She smacks his arm. 

"Ouch!" Keith gasps, more surprised than in pain.

"--you need to march yourself straight over to that boy's home, and tell him how you feel and why you said what you said!" she orders.

"But, Seo-hyun, I tried to explain, he didn't understand," Keith says, rubbing his arm.

"He only understood that you were rejecting him, and he wasn't listening properly. If you go to his house, he'll know that you _do_ care. Now get out of here! You're blubbering is ruining my food!" 

Keith bites his lip and smiles. He glances at Caroline, who's pan-frying vegetables. "Go on, you got this, Keith," she says without looking at him. 

Tears well up, and no longer from his sadness. "Okay. Thank you, Seo-hyun." 

"Shut up! Get out of here!" she barks, but she's smiling at him, her eyes shining. 

He wipes his face off, and pulls his helmet back on. "Wait a minute!" Seo-hyun shrieks. 

"What is it?" he asks after he pulls his helmet back off. 

"You're on your bike in this weather? Oh no, no, no!" Seo-hyun marches over to her coat and keys hanging on the coat rack by the door. "I'm driving you. That bike is not safe at all right now. You can't apologize to Lance if you're dead!"

"That's not really necessary, ma'am, I'm fine," Keith tries to say. 

"Pah!" she spits. "You don't know anything, Keith. But you'll learn. Now c'mon!" She hurries out the door. For such a small woman, Keith has to lengthen his stride to keep up with her. "Oh! Wait!" she exclaims, and zips around inside. She snags a to-go box, and fills it with the veggies and rice that Caroline was finishing up. "A little food can't hurt either," she says by way of explanation. Keith laughs.

They slide into Seo-hyun's car, and drive off as quickly as the roads allow. Seo-hyun lectures him in the car the whole while, and Keith tries to listen, but he can't stop replaying the face Lance made when Keith had hesitated to answer. _God, why did I have to hurt him?_

Keith points to where they need to go, and suddenly Lance's apartment looms in front of him. Seo-hyun says she will pick Keith up for work tomorrow at his apartment. She wishes him luck, throws the food into his hand, and drives off. Keith takes a deep breath, and knocks on the door. 

\---

Lance hears a knock on the door, and decides to ignore it and let Hunk or Pidge get it. He's been alternating between flipping through Tumblr and Twitter, avoiding the little "1" over his text messages, ever since he got home.

He hears muffled doors from the living room. He decides to put in headphones. He is shoving them in his eardrums, when a soft knock raps on his bedroom door. He sighs. "Come in," he croaks, voice harsh from crying earlier. 

His old door creaks as Keith hesitantly enters. His hair is every which way, evidently from tugging his helmet on and off repeatedly. He still has his finger-less gloves on, and he's wet from the sleet outside. 

"I brought you some Seoul Garden at Seo-hyun's request," he says shyly. 

Lance's lower lip juts out, pouting. _Why is this idiot so cute? How can I be upset with him?_ "This better not be a bribe," he says.

"Oh, it totally is," Keith says matter-of-factly. "But it's the best kind of bribe. It's stir-fried veggies made with love. And it's a chance for you to eat and listen to me explain. Please," he tacks on. 

Lance looks at the box, and can smell it now, and admits to himself that that might not be a bad idea. _But if he just keeps breaking my heart..._ His eyes fight to water up at the thought, but he keeps his breathing steady. He nods, not trusting himself to speak.

Keith carefully hands him the box, lightly brushing his hand against Lance's. He starts eating while Keith begins to explain.

"I talked to Shiro about his relationship with Allura. He isn't making a move on her because she's in a really bad state right now. But also, she's graduating soon, he's already in grad school, she'll probably go somewhere else..." Keith pauses. "Anyway. A lot of issues. And so he made me really think about our situations. And yeah, we're not going through anything as bad as Allura. But I have a lot of issues." He says this while looking down at his feet. He'd taken a tentative seat at Lance's little desk. "And you're in school. You need to focus on your classes."

"Hold on," Lance interrupts with his mouth a little full. "You think people don't date in college? What do you even mean by that?"

"I mean, _I_ might have some trouble. If something were to happen to me, I don't want you to sacrifice your time and energy for me. I don't want you to look as hollow and troubled as Shiro does while worrying about Allura. I'm...I'm an orphan, and had a tough life, and I'm not trying to give you a sob story. Every time my life is good, something bad has to happen to balance it out. Dating you would be a very, very good thing. And if a bad thing happened, well, then I'd be making you take care of me. I just..." Keith is crying now, and falters.

"Keith," Lance says, trying to keep his eyes in check. "You big sweet jerk. You don't think I knew that stuff when I asked you out? Dude, you dork, that's obvious, that's what it means to be in a relationship." He giving little breathy laughs, because this idiot he adores is so _dumb._ "I don't care if you're some emo kid with issues, I accept you for you, and will support you however I can."

Keith laughs at the "emo," and Lance feels a little warm flutter in his belly. _I'm so gone for this guy._

"I tried to keep myself from hurting you, and I hurt you," Keith blubbers, a mix of crying and laughing. 

Lance was no better. He holds his arms open, and Keith sits next to him, his face buried in Lance's chest. Lance grips him tightly. 

"Will you be my boyfriend?" Lance asks quietly. 

Keith nods into his sweater. "Yes," he mumbles. 

Lance kisses the top of his head. "You big dork."

"Can I have a bite?" Keith asks. 

"No way," Lance laughs, "this is my bribe food." 

Keith's hand lunges like a snake for the chopsticks, and expertly tosses a bit into his mouth before Lance can stop him. 

"You Korean _animal_!" Lance shrieks. "How can you use chopsticks that fast? I couldn't even see it!"

"Practice," Keith chuckles around a mouthful of food. 

"Someone help, my boyfriend is an animal!" Lance yells. 

"Shh!" Keith hisses, but he's laughing, too. 

They leave Lance's room holding hands. Pidge and Hunk are sitting on the couch a few convenient feet away, definitely _not_ eavesdropping.

"Hey, hey, guys, how's it going?" Hunk asks in a voice that's too casual to be casual. His posture is tense, and he's probably excited and nervous for the two of them. 

"Lance and I--" Keith starts.

"We're official!" Lance blurts.

Hunk squeals and hops off of the couch. He barrels at the pair of them and scoops them both up into a great bear hug. "I'm just SO HAPPY for you guys!" he bellows. "I can't believe Keith is FAMILY NOW and he can come over next Sunday for FAMILY DINNER and you guys can be a cute couple together and I'm just SO HAPPY for you two!" Happy tears waterfall down on Hunk's big brown cheeks. 

"Hunk, please, air is a nice thing in my lungs," Lance wheezes.

Keith's slight frame looks as though it'll snap in half. "I'm not big on hugging," Keith gasps out.

"Sorry, sorry," Hunk blubbers. "I'm just so excited!"

"We know, buddy," Lance says. He looks to Pidge, who hasn't moved from the couch. "What about you, Pigeon?"

They glance up from their phone, sigh, and approach Lance. He opens his arms to give them a hug. Instead, the punch him swiftly in the gut. 

" _That_ is for scaring me into actually almost caring about you," Pidge says, and then sits back down. 

Keith tries to cough to hide his laughter, but for some reason it is _too funny_ and he starts laughing in earnest. Lance is mildly annoyed at how cute this jerk's laugh is. _My jerk._

When he collects himself, Keith looks at Lane and asks, "Would you like to go over to my apartment and let Shiro know?" 

Lance feels a warmth in his stomach, and nods. _I'd follow this emo jerk anywhere,_ he thinks. 

They walk the couple of blocks over to Shiro and Keith's apartment, hand in hand. They discuss small things, like the weather, and Hunk's affinity for big hugs. Lance notices a lump on the ground when they get to the little parking lot. He narrows his eyes at it, before the realization hits him. _Oh._

"Oh," Keith echoes his thoughts aloud. "You dropped those, and I left, and... I'm sorry."

It was the chocolates and the flowers. They were soaked through from the moist flakes that had continued to fall into the night. Keith bent down to pick them up, tugging them away from the freezing ground. He brushed some of the ice off. 

"Well, let's take these inside and see if any of the chocolate is salvageable, huh?" Keith says. 

Lance gives a little laugh. "You don't have to do that." 

"Well, I'm going to," Keith huffs, and marches into his apartment. Lance smiles and follows. 

The warm air hits them the same moment they hear sobbing. _Someone's crying?_

"Oh, no," Keith mutters, and rushes up the stairs to their living room, Lance close behind. 

Allura is a crying form at the kitchen table. Her white hair surrounds her like a protective aura, curling and messy in every direction. Shiro is sitting next to her, murmuring soothing tones and stroking her hands with his natural arm. Shiro looks over at Keith and Lance, and gives a small nod, his face breaking even Lance's heart. Keith covers his mouth with his hands. 

Allura's father has passed away. 

\---

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Oh god, this was so hard to write. I apologize because it's a bit shorter, but a lot happened so I hope it wasn't too disappointing. Thanks for all your feedback, I really appreciate it!
> 
> Also, has anybody been having trouble when posting, a chunk of text is just deleted? Because that's happened to me twice now, and it's very frustrating. 
> 
> vol-tron-he11 on tumblr!


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